جب بھی ملک بچانے کی بات ہوئی ہم نے پاکستان کھپے کا نعرہ لگایا، آصف زرداری

پیپلز پارٹی پارلیمنٹرینز کے سربراہ و سابق صدر مملکت آصف علی زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ ہم نے جمہوریت کیلئے آر اوز اور چوہدری افتخار کے انتخابات کو تسلیم کیا ، آئندہ بھی صرف پاکستان کی بہتری کیلئے سیاست کرینگے او رلڑیں گے ،بادشاہوں کی طرح ہمارے حکمرانوں کی سوچ میں بھی غرور اور تکبر ہے اور انہیں عوام ، مزدووں ، ہاریوں کی کوئی پرواہ نہیں ،یہ کہتے ہیں سڑکیں، پل اور راستے بنا کرکمیشن کمانے کا دھندا کرتے رہو ۔ ان خیالات کا اظہار انہوں نے بلاول ہاؤس لاہور میں یوم پاکستان اور بیگم نصرت بھٹو کی سالگرہ کی مناسبت سے کیک کاٹنے کی تقریب سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کیا ۔ اس موقع پر یوسف رضا گیلانی ،قمر زمان کائرہ، سردار لطیف کھوسہ، چوہدری منظور ، نوید چوہدری سمیت کارکن بھی موجود تھے ۔ تقریب میں شہدا کیلئے فاتحہ خوانی بھی کی گئی ۔ آصف علی زرداری نے کہا کہ ہم نے بیگم نصرت بھٹو کے غموں اور خوشیوں کو دیکھا ہے ، وہ سات سے آٹھ سال تک قومے کی حالت میں رہیں اور میری بیٹیوں نے انہیں سنبھالا ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ہم نے ہمیشہ اپنے غم، تکلیف، جیلوں کی اذیتوں اور شہادتوں کو اپنی طاقت میں بدلا ہے ۔ جب بھی پاکستان بچانے کی بات آئی تو ہم نے پاکستا کھپے کا نعرہ لگایا کیونکہ ہم پاکستان کی قدر و قیمت سمجھتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ جہاں انصاف کرنے والوں، وکیلوں اور اسلا م کے ٹھیکیداروں سے پوچھا جائے گا وہیں ہم سے بھی اس بارے پوچھا جائے گا ، ہمیں تاریخ میں بھی اس کا ازالہ کرنا پڑے گا، ہمیں بھٹو شہید کے سامنے بھی جواب دینا پڑے گا ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ہم سے کسی سیاسی جماعت نے مطالبہ نہیں کیا تھا اور پارٹی تقریبات میں بھی ہمارے دوست پوچھتے تھے کہ صدر کے اختیارات پارلیمنٹ کو دئیے جارہے ہیں اس بارے سوچ لیں کیونکہ اب بی بی ہمارے ساتھ نہیں ہیں جس پر میں جواب دیتا تھا کہ ان کا مشن تو ہمارےساتھ ہے ۔ آراوز اور چوہدری افتخار کے انتخابات سے فرق نہیں پڑتا ،حکومتیں آنی جانی ہیں لیکن تاریخ لکھی جانی ہے او رہم نے ہمیشہ تاریخ میں زندہ رہنا ہے ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ہم نے خطے کے جغرافیائی حالات کو دیکھا ہے ہم نے افغانستان، ایران، روس کو دیکھا ہے ہم نے بنگال کے سانحہ کو دیکھا ہے لیکن ہم سبق نہیں سیکھتے ۔ جب میں نے بلوچستان سے معافی مانگی تو اس پر بھی لوگوں نے اعتراض کیا ، جب ہم نے خیبر پختوانخواہ کونام دیا تو اس پر بھی اعتراض تھا لیکن ہمیں ان اعتراضات پر کوئی اعتراض نہیں کیونکہ ہم پاکستان کیلئے جو بہتر سمجھتے ہیں وہ کرتے ہیں ہم صرف یہ سوچتے ہیں کہ پاکستان کیسے بہتر ہو سکتا ہے ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ بیگم نصرت بھٹو نے جمہوریت کے لئے قربانی دی،اگر وہ نہ آتیں اور کسی بھی ملک میں زندگی گزارنا چاہتیں تو گزار سکتی تھیں ، وہ جیل میں رہیں اور لڑتی رہیں اور جب ان کی صحت بگڑی تو دنیا کی طرف سے دباؤ آیا تو انہیں باہر بھجوایا گیا ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ پیپلز پارٹی کی ایک لمبی تاریخ ہے ،ہم نے ہر جگہ اولین سوچ پاکستان کی سلامتی کی رکھی ہے ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان کی جمہوریت کیلئے آراوز اور چوہدری افتخار کے انتخابات تسلیم کئے ۔ ہم نے تاریخ اور دنیا کے واقعات سے سبق سیکھا ہے ۔، عراق ، یمن اور لیبیا میں کیا ہو رہا ہے ،شام میں ڈائیلاگ کرنے کی کوشش کی ،ہم نے کہا کہ اس راہ پر مت چلو اس میں ہزاروں مریں گے لاکھوں بے گھر ہوں گے لیکن سنگدل کہاں سوچتے ہیں ۔ سابق صدر کا کہنا تھا کہ ہمارے حکمران پل، سڑکیں اور ہر وہ چیز بنارہے ہیں جن سے انہیں فائدہ اور کمیشن مل رہا ہے، انہیں صرف اپنے دھندے کی فکر ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ حکومتیں آتی جاتی رہتی ہیں مگر پیپلز پارٹی ہمیشہ رہے گی جب کہ آئندہ الیکشن پاکستان کی بہتری کے لیے لڑیں گے، ہم نے صدارتی اختیار پارلیمنٹ کو دیا، پختون خوا کو خیبر پختونخوا بنایا تواس پر بھی لوگوں کو اعتراض ہوا، بلوچستان سے معافی مانگی تو اس پر بھی لوگوں کو اعتراض ہوا۔ ہم نے پاکستان کو بچا کر رکھنا ہے ہم نے اپنے دھرتی اپنے بچوں اور آنے والی نسلوں کو بچا کر رکھنا ہے کیونکہ پاکستان ہے تو ہم سب ہیں ۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ جب میں صدام اور بڑے بڑے بادشاہوں سے ملتا تھا تو ان کے رویے میں غرور اور تکبر دیکھتا تھا اور آج وہ ہمارے حکمرانوں میں ہے ۔ وہ نہیں سمجھتے کہ غریب کا کیا ہوگا ، مزدور اور ہاری کا کیا ہوگا ، انہیں پانی ،غلے کی کوئی پرواہ نہیں ، نوکریاں کہاں سے آئیں گی، یہ صرف کہتے ہیں کہ صرف سڑکیں،پل اور راستے بنا کر کمیشن کمانے کادھندا کرو ۔ لیکن یہ ان کی راہ ہے ہماری راہ وہ ہے ۔ اس موقع پر کیک بھی کاٹا گیا ۔ بلاول ہاؤس لاہور میں منعقد ہ تقریب میں پاکستان تیرے جانثار بے شمار بے شمار کا نعرہ بھی لگایا ۔ تقریب کے دوران کارکنوں نے زرداری تیرے جانثار بے شمار بے شمار کا نعرہ لگایا تو آصف علی زرداری نے مسکراہتے ہوئے کہا کہ آج کے دن کی مناسبت سے زرداری نہیں بلکہ پاکستان تیرے جانثار بے شمار بے شمار نعرہ لگانے کا وقت ہے ۔

Video - ASIF ALI ZARDARI ADDRESSES ON #PAKISTANDAY & BEGUM BHUTTO BIRTHDAY CEREMONY

88TH BIRTHDAY OF BEGUM NUSRAT BHUTTO OBSERVED AT BILAWAL HOUSE LAHORE

Former President and PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Ch. Manzoor, Qamaruz Zaman Kaira, Bashir Riaz, Senator Lateef Khosa, Sadiq Umrani and others are cutting cake on 88th birthday of Begum Nusrat Bhutto at Bilawal House, Lahore.

Runa Laila - Mera Babu Chail Chabila Original

Music Video - Lokan do do yaar banaye afshan zebi

Video - Asif Ali Zardari Speech @MediaCellPPP #PPP #Lahore #BilawalHouse #AsifAliZardari #Speech #23March

Afghan Children, Deprived of School, Tell of Their Deepest Fears

When the first day of the new school year starts in Afghanistan on Thursday, 3.7 million boys and girls won’t be in attendance, because of increased violence, displacement and poverty. The total number — representing roughly one in three school-age Afghan children — is expected to grow this year as violence between Afghan forces and the Taliban intensifies, and Pakistan forces Afghan refugees to return home, according to Save the Children, an advocacy group.

We spoke to five of those children. Here are their stories in their own words; they have been translated and edited. Lina, 12, is from Kapisa Province in northeastern Afghanistan, but her family members were displaced by fighting seven years ago. She now lives in a refugee camp in Kabul. She went to school for three years before being pulled out.

I loved going to school, but we don’t have enough money to buy notebooks and other things. Our relatives are angry at us for leaving school, but without notebooks it was not possible to study and do homework.

If I don’t go to school, I will become nothing in the future; if I go to school, I will become a doctor. I want to become a doctor.

We live in tents here; we have two tents. I sleep with my five brothers and sisters in one tent, and my father, mother, and two small sisters sleep in the other.

For breakfast, if something is left over from dinner we eat that. If not, we eat bread with tea. After breakfast, I bring water from the well, which is a one-hour walk away. Providing drinking water for our home is my responsibility, and I bring water in a wheelbarrow, in these small barrels, two or three times a day. I also collect small pieces of wood and plastic to burn for heating our home. Zahid, 8, is from Surkh Rod, a district in eastern Nangarhar Province. He and his four siblings help his father collect metal scraps in Jalalabad, a nearby city.

All members of my family sleep in one room that we rent for $25 a month. After waking, I wash my face, then I eat my breakfast, which is tea with bread, and then I take my sack and go to the bazaar.

During the day, I collect scraps of metal, wood and paper. For lunch, I wait in front of a bakery — the baker himself or someone else gives me a loaf of bread that I share with my friend or my cousin.

We sell the things we collect during the day for 20 cents, and then I bring the money home and we buy tea, sugar or something else with it. In a whole day, the most I earn is 50 cents.

I do not go to school because we don’t have money to pay school expenses. The 20 cents I earn is to pay for sugar and tea.

My relatives and friends are going to school, and when I see them, I wish I would be able to go to school and do my studies, too. If you go to school, you will have a good future. If you don’t, you will not.

Raqibullah, 12, is from a village on the outskirts of Tirin Kot, a city in Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan. His father was killed a year and a half ago by a blast from an improvised explosive device. Raqibullah then moved to Tirin Kot.

When I was in the village, I was going to school, but there are no schools there anymore. I only studied up to fourth grade, but I can still read and write.

In the city, I sell sweets from a cart to feed my siblings. I have three brothers and three sisters, and we all live together. My oldest brother is 14 years old, and the youngest in our family is my 4-year-old sister. My older brother is also working with me. If my father were alive, I would not be spending the day in the bazaar selling things.

My cousins are still in the village where there is no school. But my neighbors here — they attend private school and government schools. When I see boys going to school, I really feel like I should be going, too. But I have to earn money in order to feed my family and afford the rent.

Bakhti, 13, is from the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Her mother died of hepatitis B three years ago. Her father, who works as a day laborer in Iran, left her and her younger brothers in Kabul with their uncle. I wake up around 6 a.m. After breakfast, I do the housework — cleaning, sweeping inside and outside, washing the dishes. If there is a carpet in progress, then I get to help weave the carpet.

From each carpet, I get about 80 cents as a tip. The rest of the money goes to the house expenses. Last time from the 80 cents, I bought a comb for myself and socks for my brothers.

When I lived in Mazar, I studied until fourth grade. When we came to Kabul, I went to school for about three months but then stopped. The classes here were not like those in Mazar. The students did not behave well; they were very violent. They would call me the “strange girl.”

I also stopped going because my two brothers are alone. I am afraid they will get lost — I have to stay and look after them. If my mother was around, I would study. But now I can’t.

My cousins go to school. Those who go to school, they look good. I also want to go to school, but it is not going to happen. Imamuddin, 15, is from Charchino District in Oruzgan Province. After intense fighting in the district, which is now controlled by the Taliban, his father moved half of the family to Tirin Kot.

I studied up to fifth grade in our district, but schools closed a year ago because of fighting, and now the Taliban control our village. There was fighting every day, and I wasn’t even able to leave our house.

My mother and five sisters are still in the district; we are trying to bring them here soon. We live in a rented house, which has three rooms, and we pay about $60 a month for rent. My father, two brothers and I share one room. It’s winter, and to keep a room warm needs a lot of wood, and we can hardly make one room warm.

Life is hard for me here because I do nothing. I am very bored. But I am happy when night comes, and at least I can go to sleep.

I really want to become a doctor and serve the people. I am asking my father to send me to English classes in Tirin Kot, but my father cannot afford the fees. I am studying my old books from school, and I have completed each book many times.

I may start working, or move to another province where we can find a better living. I am worried about my future and education. Life was good back in the district — we had a good living, we had land and orchards and schools and fellow students, but here you do not know anybody. Fighting deprived us of everything.

The Women in Afghanistan’s Moral Prisons

By Ritu Mahendru

Sex before marriage, fleeing abuse, even being raped could land a woman in one of Afghanistan’s moral prisons.

“Oppression of Afghan women did not start with the Taliban nor has it ended with their defeat.” So wrote Anne E. Brodsky in her book, With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

Violence against women in Afghanistan occurs due to structural inequalities between women and men, including women’s lack of access to economic, political and social resources. This gender gap is deeply rooted in androcentric and religious fundamentalist values. Afghan girls and women face many forms of violence: threats, torture, rape, child and forced marriages, Baadal (the exchange of daughters or sisters as brides), and Baad (arranged marriages to settle dispute).

Women also face imprisonment for up to five years for so-called moral crimes such as running away from home (even to flee violence) and zina (sex before marriage).

A report by Human Rights Watch states that such incarcerations of girls and women for moral crimes are on the rise. The number increased from about 400 in the autumn of 2011 to about 600 in the spring of 2013. In spite of compelling evidence of the injustice faced by women in Afghanistan, and recommendations by the UN member countries, the Afghan government has categorically rejected abolishing the prosecution of women for moral crimes, which often occur when women are fleeing sexual and gender-based violence (GBV).

How to Wind up in a Moral Prison

Sitting on the floor in a prison courtyard, six Afghan women, aged 18-57, form a semicircle facing one another. They take turns narrating their stories, describing why they were now in the prison. They help each other by adding details from their own experiences of injustice, signaling solidarity without the fear of being judged or heard by the policeman who has been tailing them around in the courtyard.

Tahmeena* is a 24-year-old Tajik female. She refused to sleep with her brother-in-law when her family was away. She was then accused of attempted adultery: “The female police rained batons on me. I kept shouting I haven’t done anything. They [the police and her family] didn’t believe me. There was no trial, just the sentence.”

Zahra, 57 has been in the prison for a year. She killed her husband because of the constant sexual and physical abuse. “I killed him. I stabbed him a few times,” she states unapologetically, and shares a smile with the others that turns into familiar laughter.

Sameena, 19, has been in the prison for six months because she had pre-marital sex with her boyfriend. “He is in prison and I will marry him when I get out of here but I also fear for his and my life,” she says.

Sumaira, 18, was raped by her uncle when she was 16. She now has a year-old daughter and is in prison for having sex outside of marriage. “I was alone in the house when he [the uncle] came to my room, threatened me with a knife and raped me. I didn’t know what was going on,” she recounts. “This happened a few times and a couple of months later I was pregnant. I never told my family because of the fear of getting killed. When they found out at the seventh month, I told them what had happened. My uncle accused me of seducing him and lying. He never faced trial and I was brought here for zina.”

Attacks like the ones these women experienced are a tool to control female sexuality in a climate of impunity with the government failing bring perpetrators to justice. Women in Afghan jails are often sentenced  for so-called moral crimes while religious and influential men are exonerated for the same offenses. The women’s stories make it obvious that the power discrepancy between men and women is the root cause of their imprisonment.

Humaira, 18, ran away from home at the age of 13 to escape baad. She was accused of “moral crimes” and was subjected to forced “virginity tests.”

“They did virginity tests on me. I kept saying no but they ignored my cries,” she says. “The tests were negative but the guy who was forcing me to marry him bribed the authorities and I am now imprisoned for attempted adultery.”

Virginity tests in Afghanistan can happen if women flee their homes or enter public spaces without the supervision of men. Any legal authority, with or without the demand of the victim’s family, can order a virginity test to determine the presence of an intact hymen, even in the absence of substantial evidence that any sexual act has occurred. Tellingly, the examination focuses only on virginity, not on documenting the physical injuries of girls and women that occurred as result of GBV.

The World Health Organization has clearly stated that “such examinations have no scientific validity in determining virginity or sexual history. The use of such examinations for these purposes is a violation of international human right standards and principles.”

Life in the Morality Cells

The morality cells are excluded from the rest of the prison. The cells are stuffy; there are no windows, just brick walls. Inside, 16 bunk beds are attached to one another in four square rooms, leaving hardly any space to move around. Several women are carrying toddlers born out of wedlock. Many of the inmates are mothers who have either given birth while in the prison or brought their children to live with them after they were incarcerated.

Next to one of the rooms are two squatting toilets shared by over 30 women. This is where the women wash their clothes and bathe their children as well as themselves using a bucket provided. The toilets neither have doors nor windows. They run out of water frequently and always have excrement in them. The smell of sweat, dirt, dust, excrement, and body odor is unbearable. Occasionally there are screams and shouts, when a fight breaks out between the female inmates.

“There are men [male police and guards] everywhere in the prison. Our movement is restricted. We have to be inside and around our cells,” says Tahmeena. “The prisoners and staff don’t behave well. We fight amongst ourselves every day. We curse each other.”

“There is no good food. When it’s cold, we don’t have heating. Sometimes the staff beats us with iron rods. There is no health care. The head of the prison is the worst and beats us all the time,” she continues.

After finishing their prison sentences, women and their children are transferred to highly fortified secret shelters to protect them from honor-killings by their immediate family members until a more permanent and safer solution is worked out.

Thus Afghan girls and women are blamed for causing or provoking violence, especially when they are trying to escape it. In trying to defend themselves, they also end up confronting other injustices such as beatings, kidnappings, and threats of honor killing – a vicious circle which they find difficult to escape.

Justice System

None of the six women had much faith in the justice system. The authorities, including female lawyers and women-centered organizations, adopt a traditional attitude, with an inherent male bias, toward GBV survivors. Women are expected to follow the “morality framework” and remain subdued to maintain the status quo.

“I have no trust in the justice system. They [government and police officials] don’t want to work; they take bribes. If you know someone in the system, if you have the money, you can buy the law,” Tahmeena says.

“It’s easier for men. Men will sympathize with men.”

In the first six months of 2016, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission reported 5,132 new cases of violence against women, including 241 murders, in the country. In almost all cases, the perpetrators act with impunity.

Similarly, innumerable cases have been recorded of authorized violence against women, such as public lashings and executions ordered by local ulemas and jirgas (informal community courts and local councils) attended and chaired by powerful male fundamentalists who defend religious decrees in all parts of Afghanistan. The Afghan parliament in the past has attempted to make stoning legal for actions that violate Sharia law, such as adultery.

The government has clearly failed to fully implement the 2009 Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law, landmark legislation that came into force in Afghanistan through a presidential decree to protect girls and women’s rights. The law criminalized 22 acts of violence against women and other harmful practices. It, however, received stiff opposition from parliamentarians and has been waiting for approval for eight years.

Challenging Misogyny and Fundamentalism: A Top-Down Approach

While female Afghan activists and women rights organizations have been persistent in advocating for women’s rights and providing specialized services to the victims of GBV, they face tremendous challenges, even threats to their lives. They operate within an Islamic framework to present their perspectives, which would otherwise be rejected or ignored. In recent years there have been a continuing series of attacks and assassinations of high-profile female politicians and women rights’ activists, to which the government has categorically turned a blind eye.

However, some women remain undeterred by the threats and oppositions. The women-led anti-fundamentalist organization Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), whose own founding member was assassinated by an Afghan fundamentalist group, still works underground in Afghanistan. They continue to face threats from fundamentalist groups and enormous challenges due to a lack of international funding and support.

RAWA argues that the U.S. government is compliant in promoting fundamentalist values and can be blamed for the current situation of women in Afghanistan. While the United States and the UN have the power to influence the Afghan government, they have failed to make women’s and girls’ rights their prime agenda. Women are hardly ever consulted on key decisions that would have an impact on their lives.

Women’s subordination has its roots in their exclusion from the high-level political agenda. The prioritization of male voices leaves little room to make gender-neutral and equitable policies, perpetuating a cycle of violence that we can’t seem to control from generation-to-generation.

The United States plays a significantly powerful role in the decision-making processes of Afghanistan and its political reconciliation, which can be utilized to persuade Afghan leaders to decriminalize moral offenses and promote women’s rights using a top-down approach. That would be the real deal for Afghan women.

Interview : Why Pakistan associates terrorism with Pashtuns and Afghans

• Author Shamil Shams

Pakistani officials have begun a "racial profiling" of the Pashtun people in the wake of a surge in terror attacks. In a DW interview, activist and researcher Saba Gul Khattak says the move is counterproductive.

Rights organizations in Pakistan have expressed concern over an "apparent racial profiling" and "stereotyping" of Pashtuns and Afghans as authorities step up their crackdown against Islamist militancy after a recent surge in terror attacks across the country.

The non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recently condemned the harassment of Pashtuns by security officials.

Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been tense as Islamabad claims that Afghan militants are perpetrating attacks inside the country. Many Pakistanis associate the militancy in their nation with the Pashtu-speaking people who live on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.

In an interview with DW, Saba Gul Khattak, a renowned Pakistani researcher and activist, explains why the "ethnic profiling" of Pashtuns is a very dangerous trend for the country.

DW: Is the Pashtun "racial profiling" being carried out on a large scale in Pakistan, or are we witnessing some isolated incidents?

Saba Gul Khattak: The profiling is being carried out mainly in Punjab province - and to some extent in the capital Islamabad. This time round, it was spurred by the last month's suicide attacks in Lahore and Sehwan. However, similar trends have persisted for a while; the police in Punjab and Islamabad began ethnic profiling of Pashtuns in low-income areas prior to these attacks, and there were reports that the authorities blocked the national identity cards of Pashtuns settled in Punjab.

The profiling is restricted to a particular class - laborers/daily wage workers, hawkers, small shopkeepers and others who live in low-income communities. It is being carried out systematically as Punjab's government instructed police teams to identify a Pashtun at the community level to assist with identification processes.

According to "The Friday Times" newspaper, "Some district police officials distributed pamphlets requesting the general population to report any suspicious person or activity. The terrorists were specified as 'Pashtuns and Afghans.' Similarly, traders' organizations in Punjab have been asked to register Pashtuns working in their markets and submit lists to the nearby police stations to help the government curb terrorism."

In short, this is not the first time systematic surveys targeting Pashtuns have been conducted. In tandem with profiling is the decision of the Punjab government (and often the central government as well) not to allow internally displaced Pashtuns to enter the province.

Many people in Pakistan associate terrorism with the Pashtu-speaking Pakistanis and Afghans. What are the reasons behind this stereotyping?

This comes from the stereotype of a "gun-toting Pashtun" waging almost four decades of Afghan jihad (with the Mujahideen morphing into the Taliban). There is also the added dimension of the Pashtuns' religious conservatism on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Furthermore, there is a historical context to the distrust of the Pashtuns due to the popularity of the "Khudai Khidmatgar" movement (affiliated with the Indian National Congress in opposition to the Muslim League - the party that demanded creation of Pakistan.) Soon after Pakistan's independence from British rule in 1947, the Khudai Khidmatgar workers and leaders were accused of being "traitors," their government was dismissed and their party offices and records were destroyed.

Afghanistan was also the last country to recognize Pakistan as a state because of the dubious legal status of the Durand Line that separates the two countries, and Kabul funded the Pashtunistan movement supporters. The Cold War further fuelled the Pashtunistan movement as Russia and Afghanistan were backing the nationalists in Pakistan's northwestern areas, creating deep-seated suspicion within the Pakistani establishment.

The post 9/11 war on terror introduced suicide bombings. The madrassas (Islamic seminaries) established across Pakistan, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), came in handy. These madrassas further reinforced the association of terrorism with Pashtuns. The media carefully omitted mention of the Punjabi Taliban (present in Afghanistan and FATA since the late 1990s). Their presence was acknowledged by the government only around 2010 and 2011 when police stations in Punjab were being targeted and the provincial government needed Islamabad to allocate more funds for guarding police facilities.

Keeping in mind that the Pashtun-majority areas of the country have a long history of anti-Islamabad sentiment, as well as a "Pashtunistan" movement involving Afghanistan, how dangerous could this profiling be for the stability of the country?

The ethnic profiling will probably not bring the Pashtunistan movement back (Afghanistan's economy and political situation is far worse than Pakistan's hence there is little incentive to go for a greater Pashtunistan). However, alienating an entire ethnic group, questioning and blocking their citizenship due to some vague fears of terrorism, is counterproductive. It will deepen the resentment that has existed for some time. It strengthens the belief that only Pashtun blood is being shed on both sides of the border.

How is the repatriation of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers being viewed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? Is it also being looked at by some as the "victimization" of Pashtuns by Islamabad?

There are no simple answers to this question. Depending on the political party position, some Pakistani Pashtuns are in favor of Afghan refugees while others blame them for everything that is wrong in the province, especially the security situation. The poor Pashtuns in Pakistan have long resented the Afghan refugees with whom they have had to share their sparse resources and a deteriorating environment. The Afghans have resented being in Pakistan as they have had to work for lower wages whereas the Pakistani laborer has resented the Afghan labor as he felt robbed of his due share by Afghans who are willing to work for less money.

Politically speaking, there has been muted condemnation of forced ouster of refugees though Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced in the UN General Assembly in September 2016 that Pakistan would allow refugees to stay. However, harassment of refugees has continued as they are blamed for the deteriorating security situation.

How do you look at the current ties between Islamabad and Kabul? Are they likely to improve any time soon?

The ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated significantly since Afghan President Ashraf Ghani initially extended the hand of friendship to Islamabad. President Ghani's statements in the presence of Indian PM Narendra Modi about oppression in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces and his refusal to accept Pakistan's aid offer of $500 million (465 million euros) indicate that relations are extremely tense. In Afghanistan, popular opinion holds the Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence security agency responsible for bomb attacks while in Pakistan, Afghan refugees are the convenient scapegoats.

TERRORIST MASJID-E-ZARRAR OF PAKISTAN AKA LAL MASJID INVITES PROSCRIBED ASWJ RINGLEADER

The management Lal Masjid aka Masjid-e-Zarrar in all over Pakistan due to its overt support to terrorism has invited Aurangzeb Farooqi, a ringleader of banned Deobandi terrorist outfit ASWJ (Sipah-e-Sahaba) to speak at a conference in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The ASWJ (Sipah-e-Sahaba) is mother organisation of banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and together they are called mother of all terrorism in Pakistan.

Lal Masjid became notorious after its declared support to the terrorist attacks in all over Pakistan by Deobandi terrorists of banned outfits such as Taliban and its allies such as ASWJ/Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Abdul Aziz, Lal Masjid cleric is the host of the said programme which is to be held on Friday (tomorrow). He always defended takfiri Deobandi terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Farooqi is ringleader of ASWJ that was declared proscribed by the State of Pakistan because of its links to sectarian terrorism. Another guest speaker is Rafiq Afghan (who was wrongly named as Rafiq Awan in the poster), chief editor of Ummat, an Urdu daily who always projected the Taliban terrorists and published the sayings of Osama Bin Laden of al-Qaida and Mulla Omar of Taliban on its front page above the headline.
The management of Lal Masjid under its cleric Abdu Aziz is detested by law-abiding and pro-peace moderate Pakistanis. His war on social media activists and peaceful communities of Pakistan earned him a bad name.
But, Pakistanis are agape that proscribed sectarian terrorist outfit ringleaders are always welcomed in the capital city of Pakistan and there is no official at any level that implements the ban on the banned outfits and prevent the hatemongering pro-terrorism clerics such as Abdul Aziz and pro-terrorist newspaper owner Rafiq Afghan from hosting and speaking at the public meetings!

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/27775-masjid-e-zarrar-of-pakistan-aka-lal-masjid-invites-proscribed-aswj-ringleader

Pakistan - A political census

By ZAHID HUSSAIN

How many are we? Finally, a count of the Pakistani population has started after a gap of 19 years. Perhaps more important than just the numbers game is the changing social landscape of the country that census 2017 is likely to reveal. This full population headcount will not only help map the profile of the nation it will also be critical to shaping its future. A likely shifting collage of a working-age, more educated and more urbanised population is bound to influence political dynamics in the country.

A national census, carried out periodically, is considered the largest and most reliable form of statistical data collection by governments. Empirical evidence thus provided helps drive the state policy on education, health and housing requirements. Unfortunately, this objective has not been a priority and has been persistently delayed in Pakistan. Following a 17-year gap between the 1981 and 1998 census is the even longer gap of 19 years before the 2017 census. In most other countries, including India and Bangladesh, the census takes place decennially.

Like many other national issues, the census has also become a politically contentious matter in this country causing repeated postponements. A full- scale household listing in 2011 had to be put aside and redone again now. And, it was the intervention of the Supreme Court that forced the authorities to fulfil this constitutional obligation.

Fearful of changing population dynamics that the census could validate, some political forces are trying to make the ongoing exercise even more controversial. It is highly unfortunate that an issue that should be unbiased and apolitical is being drawn into the country’s already fraught political battlefield. The last-minute court petition filed by the PPP and MQM to halt the census left a bad taste all around. Any objections should have been resolved before the start of this much-delayed population counting exercise. While the census may give a more realistic socioeconomic picture, it could also open a political Pandora’s box. It is evident that without census data one cannot have a clear understanding of the state of the economy and society. For political reform too, the country needs to have the latest population distribution data. Without this, the Election Commission cannot make plans for the delimitation of electoral constituencies and seat shares in parliament, nor can it deal with other issues required for strengthening a representative and inclusive democracy.

While some of the broad contours of Pakistan’s changing demography are already evident, it will be important to see how rapid population growth and a high rate of urbanisation may have impacted social, economic and political undercurrents. The last census conducted in 1998 showed the country’s population at 134 million — 100m were added since 1951. This phenomenal increase already signalled a population explosion getting completely out of control. Now, 19 years later, it is estimated to have grown to more than 200m, causing Pakistan to edge closer to the onerous position of the fifth most populous country.

Even more importantly, internal migration, rural mobility, and displaced populations due to internal conflict which will be manifest in the 2017 census count are very likely to alter the ethnic, social and economic landscape of different regions hence impacting the future political course. Because of these factors, this census is likely to reinforce the perception that the growth of population in all the four provinces and other regions is not even. It is apparent that the population has been growing much faster in some regions not necessarily because of high birth rates, but due to mobility from rural to urban areas.

Pakistan is one of the fastest urbanising countries in South Asia and some studies show that more than half the country’s population may be living in urban areas. Large-scale mobility of the rural population is the major factor behind urban growth. In the 1998 census, big towns with a population of one million and above accounted for 50 per cent of the total population. Now that share of urban population is projected to be at least 60pc.

According to one study, the urban areas account for around 80pc of the country’s GDP and almost all the country’s tax revenues. Urban poverty rates are almost one-half of rural poverty. Generally, the urbanisation rate may be much faster in Punjab, but internal migration and influx from the conflict areas in the northwest has caused a much greater increase of population in urban Sindh. For example, Karachi, which is the country’s main economic and financial hub, has witnessed an estimated increase of 8.8pc per annum in its population mainly because of the massive influx of migrants in recent years. The city’s population is projected to have more than doubled since 1998.

But the census will also raise questions about the shift in population ratios across the provinces. Does Punjab still enjoy a 54pc share in the country’s overall population? Similar questions arise in the case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which has witnessed the biggest migration of population forced by militant violence and successive military operations. The other highly sensitive issue is the likely change in the ethnic balance within the provinces particularly in the case of Sindh and Balochistan with the presence of significant migrant populations.

These changes in the demographic balance will also require a reallocation of seats in parliament and revisiting the NFC award. That may ignite a new political controversy among the provinces. Another contentious issue is that this radical demographic shift because of the rising urban population is not fully reflected in our existing political structure, as the representation of rural areas remains disproportionally high.

While the census may help in providing a more realistic socioeconomic picture of the country, it can also open a new political Pandora’s box. While a more populated Sindh may demand a greater share of resources and representation in parliament, the province is likely to face the same demand from its own urban centres. All these issues have to be tackled amicably for the further strengthening of our federal democratic system. The census is the necessary bitter pill to guide that change.

ﺑﻼﻭﻝ ﺑﮭﭩﻮ ﺯﺭﺩﺍﺭﯼ ﮐﺎ ﯾﻮﻡ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ﭘﺮ ﺗﻤﺎﻡ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻧﯽ ﺷﮩﺮﯾﻮﮞ ﮐﻮ ﻣﺒﺎﺭﮐﺒﺎﺩ

ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ﭘﯿﭙﻠﺰﭘﺎﺭﭨﯽ ﮐﮯ ﭼﯿﺌﺮﻣﯿﻦ ﺑﻼﻭﻝ ﺑﮭﭩﻮ ﺯﺭﺩﺍﺭﯼ ﻧﮯ ’’ ﯾﻮﻡ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ‘‘ ﭘﺮ ﺗﻤﺎﻡ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻧﯽ ﺷﮩﺮﯾﻮﮞ ﮐﻮ ﻣﺒﺎﺭﮐﺒﺎﺩ ﺩﯼ ﮨﮯ، ﺍﭘﻨﮯ ﭘﯿﻐﺎﻡ ﻣﯿﮟ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ﭘﯿﭙﻠﺰﭘﺎﺭﭨﯽ ﮐﮯ ﭼﯿﺌﺮﻣﯿﻦ ﻧﮯ ﺯﻭﺭ ﺩﯾﺎ ﮐﮧ ﺍٓﺝ ﺳﮯ 8 ﺩﮨﺎﺋﯽ ﻗﺒﻞ ﻻﮨﻮﺭ ﻣﯿﮟ ﻣﻨﻈﻮﺭ ﮐﯽ ﮔﺌﯽ ’’ ﻗﺮﺍﺭﺩﺍﺩ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ‘‘ ﮐﮯ ﺣﻘﯿﻘﯽ ﺭﻭﺡ ﮐﮯ ﻣﻄﺎﺑﻖ ﺗﻤﺎﻡ ﻭﻓﺎﻗﯽ ﺍﮐﺎﺋﯿﻮﮞ ﮐﮯ ﻣﺎﺑﯿﻦ ﺭﺷﺘﻮﮞ ﮐﻮ ﻣﺰﯾﺪ ﻣﻀﺒﻮﻁ ﺑﻨﺎﯾﺎ ﺟﺎﺋﮯ، ﺍﻧﮩﻮﮞ ﻧﮯ ﮐﮩﺎ ﮐﮧ ﺑﺎﻧﯿﺎﻥ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ﮐﮯ ﺧﻮﺍﺑﻮﮞ ﮐﯽ ﺗﮑﻤﯿﻞ ﮐﺎ ﯾﮧ ﺳﻨﮩﺮﯼ ﻣﻮﻗﻊ ﮨﮯ ﺟﻨﮩﻮﮞ ﻧﮯ ﺍﻧﺼﺎﻑ ﺍﻣﻦ ﺍﻭﺭ ﻣﺴﺎﻭﺍﺕ ﭘﺮ ﻣﺒﻨﯽ ﺍﯾﮏ ﻣﺴﺎﻭﯼ ﺭﻭﻝ ﻣﺎﮈﻝ ﻣﺴﻠﻢ ﺭﯾﺎﺳﺖ ﮐﺎ ﺑﻨﯿﺎﺩ ﺭﮐﮭﺎ، ﺑﻼﻭﻝ ﺑﮭﭩﻮ ﺯﺭﺩﺍﺭﯼ ﻧﮯ ﯾﮧ ﻋﺰﻡ ﮐﯿﺎ ﮐﮧ ﺑﺎﻧﯿﺎﻥ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ﮐﮯ ﻣﺸﻦ ﺍﻭﺭ ﻧﻈﺮﯾﮧ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ﮐﯽ ﺣﻘﯿﻘﯽ ﻣﺸﻌﻞ ﺑﺮﺩﺍﺭ ﮐﮯ ﻃﻮﺭ ﭘﺎﮐﺴﺘﺎﻥ ﭘﯿﭙﻠﺰﭘﺎﺭﭨﯽ ﭘﯿﭽﮭﮯ ﮨﭩﮯ ﺑﻐﯿﺮ ﺍﭘﻨﮯ ﻣﺸﻦ ﺍﻭﺭ ﻣﻘﺼﺪ ﮐﯽ ﺣﺎﺻﻼﺕ ﮐﮯ ﻟﯿﮯ ﺍﭘﻨﺎ ﺳﻔﺮ ﺟﺎﺭﯼ ﺭﮐﮭﮯ ﮔﯽ، ﺑﻼﻭﻝ ﺑﮭﭩﻮ ﺯﺭﺩﺍﺭﯼ ﻧﮯ ﮐﮩﺎ ﮐﮧ ﯾﮧ ﺗﺎﺭﯾﺨﯽ ﺩﻥ ﻣﻨﺎﺗﮯ ﮨﻮﺋﮯ ﮨﻤﯿﮟ ﭼﺎﮨﯿﮯ ﮐﮧ ﺩﻧﯿﺎ ﮐﮯ ﻧﻘﺸﮧ ﭘﺮ ﺍﯾﮏ ﺭﻭﻝ ﻣﺎﮈﻝ ﻣﺴﻠﻢ ﻣﻠﮏ ﮐﺎ ﺩﺭﺟﮧ ﺣﺎﺻﻞ ﮐﺮﻧﮯ ﮐﮯ ﻟﯿﮯ ﺍﭘﻨﯽ ﺗﻤﺎﻡ ﺻﻼﺣﯿﺘﯿﮟ ﺍﻭﺭ ﻗﺎﺑﻠﯿﺘﯿﮟ ﺑﺮﻭﺋﮯ ﮐﺎﺭ ﻻﺋﯿﮟ۔

https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/2017/03/23/%EF%BA%91%EF%BB%BC%EF%BB%AD%EF%BB%9D-%EF%BA%91%EF%AE%AD%EF%AD%A9%EF%BB%AE-%EF%BA%AF%EF%BA%AD%EF%BA%A9%EF%BA%8D%EF%BA%AD%EF%AF%BC-%EF%AE%90%EF%BA%8E-%EF%AF%BE%EF%BB%AE%EF%BB%A1-%EF%AD%98%EF%BA%8E/

Video Interview : ASIF ALI ZARDARI's EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH HAMID MIR

Kal Bhi Bhutto Zinda Tha,aj bhi Bhuto zinda he *Jeay Bhutto*

Message of Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Pakistan Day

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has extended felicitations to the fellow citizens on Pakistan Day being celebrated Thursday.

In his message on the occasion, the PPP Chairman stressed for cementing relations among federating units in the spirit of Pakistan Resolution passed eight decades ago in Lahore.

He said it was high time to fulfill the dreams of the founders of Pakistan who laid foundations for an egalitarian Muslim nation based on justice, peace and equality.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pledged that as a true torch-bearer of the ideology of Pakistan and mission of our founders, the PPP would continue to march towards their goals and mission without looking back.

“Celebrating this great day in our history, let us carry forward this mission with all our capabilities and capacities to achieve the status on the world map as a model Muslim nation,” he added.

https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/message-of-chairman-ppp-bilawal-bhutto-zardari-on-pakistan-day/

Asif Ali Zardari greets nation on Pakistan Day

“On the eve of Pakistan Day we should rededicate ourselves to the ideals of democracy, rule of law and welfare of the people – principles that lay at the heart of the demand
for Pakistan”.

This has been stated by former President Asif Ali Zardari in a message while greeting the nation on the eve of 77th Pakistan Day on Thursday.

More than any other consideration we should strive to be driven by the consideration of egalitarianism the welfare of the people regardless of their caste, creed and religion in the Pakistan of our dreams, he said adding also “the August 11, 1947 speech of the Quaid before the Constituent Assembly is the guiding principle of the state”.

It is a grim thought on this Pakistan Day that the nation is surrendering judicial space to the military courts because of the breakdown of criminal justice system, he said.

Let us therefore pledge on this occasion to fix the criminal justice system at the earliest, the former President said.

A great threat to our ideals is also posed by the extremists who exploit the name of religion to impose their obscurantist, regressive and anti-women and anti-Non Muslims agenda on the people. We pledge to
fight them to the finish, he said.

May Allah bless our efforts to prove ourselves worthy of the heritage bequeathed to us by the Quaid-e-Azam.

https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/

Haqqani was not the only one responsible for issuing visas: Zardari

Hussain Haqqani didn’t even have the right in American Embassy to issues visas [to anyone], said former President Asif Ali Zardari.

Former President Zardari will be seen discussing the decision to appoint Hussain Haqqani as Pakistani Ambassador in tonight’s episode of Capital Talk.

Snippets of show reveal Zardari saying. “I don’t think Hussain has said this, he didn’t even have the right in American Embassy to issues visas [to anyone].”

“There a lot more people in American Embassy than just the ambassador who scramble through the important visas.”

Zardari also said, “I would never meet Haqqani nor would plan to meet during my visits to Washington.”

“Hussain Haqqani lives in another world altogether these days.  There is a lot of difference in the way we think now,” the PPP leader said.

“I don’t agree with what Haqqani has written about Pakistan in his book. Haqqani considers himself Washington’s philosopher and lobbyists, there are some people who make friends in US while making anti-Pakistani statements, said Zardari, adding “Haqqani thinks he is very smart.”

When Hussain Haqqani was made the ambassador the president of the country was Pervez Musharraf.

He also mentioned Osama Bin Laden and remarked that “the parliament fought him, civilians fought him, otherwise who knows what the world would have done.”

BILAWAL BHUTTO FELICITATES NEWLY-ELECTED OFFICE-BEARERS OF PFUJ

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has extended felicitation the newly-elected office-bearers of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and assured full cooperation from his Party for protection of journalists and freedom of press.

In a congratulation message to Afzal Butt and Ayub Jan Sarhandi who were elected as President and General Secretary of PFUJ in elections held in Quetta, Bilawal Bhutto eulogized the journalist fraternity for upholding and strengthening democratic traditions among their cadres. Media persons have greater role to play in promoting democracy in the country to create a society based on justice and fair-play, he added.

PPP Chairman said that every segment of our country needs unity and brotherhood to promote culture of tolerance and patience, while the journalist community has special responsibility of maintaining a balance in coverage and reporting. Media literacy is the key to a vibrant media and its readership/viewers, who may be well-educated to differentiate between news, propaganda and media-trial, he added.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that elections of the PFUJ body at this juncture are of immense importance and hoped the newly-elected body will take into account its responsibilities for these challenges with an open heart.

PPP Chairman asked the PFUJ President and General Secretary to convey his felicitations to all other elected office-bearers including the Federal Executive Council.



https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/bilawal-bhutto-felicitates-newly-elected-office-bearers-of-pfuj/

So Much News, So Little Time: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

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Modern-day slavery in focus : ‘We’re cheated, first in India, then in Qatar’: how World Cup workers are deceived

By Vivek Chaudhary

A group of young men jump to attention as Vishnukanth Thapar nonchalantly sweeps past to open the front door of the Career Wings travel agency. Seconds after stepping into a shabby, ground-floor office he stops at a wooden shrine adorned with Hindu deities, bowing his head and joining his hands to pay obeisance before the day’s work begins. There is a lot to be thankful for.

The men are summoned, gathering around a large wooden desk as they provide verbal CVs and contact details. Today’s offering includes eight bricklayers, three metal workers, six HGV drivers and a dozen labourers. As he busily scribbles notes, a bell rings on Thapar’s mobile, announcing the arrival of an email, which he flicks open with his finger. After reading it, he looks up to proclaim: “I need drivers and labourers. Who wants to go?” They all hold up their hands.

Behind the benign name and a misleading advertising hoarding offering services such as Tourist PR (sic) and luxury holidays, accompanied by eye-catching photographs of London and Sydney, Career Wings specialises in an altogether different form of foreign travel. And business has never been so brisk, driven by Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 World Cup, which has led to a construction boom and an unprecedented demand for labour in the Gulf state.

There are an estimated 1.8 million migrant workers already in Qatar, with 600,000 Indians and 500,000 Nepalese making up the largest number, followed by those from other south Asian countries. The gas-rich nation is spending about £400m a week on infrastructure projects, directly or indirectly related to football’s most prestigious tournament, and the demand for labour is expected to increase over the coming year as work intensifies.

It all represents rich pickings for the likes of Thapar, whose business forms part of a flourishing, pernicious chain that begins in remote villages in India and other south Asian countries and ends on the bustling hi-tech construction sites of Qatar. Human rights activists describe it as a form of “modern-day slavery”.

Located in Nawanshahr, in the north Indian state of Punjab, Career Wings is one of 150 unregistered recruitment agencies dominating the streets of the provincial town of almost 50,000 people. Middlemen often bring in potential workers from surrounding villages. Once recruiters like Thapar have taken their details, they are referred to registered agents in the city of Jalandhar nearby, who make the final arrangements and award the jobs.

Thapar demands £100 from each worker who secures a job through the agency he deals with in Jalandhar, which provides him with daily updates on the types of workers it requires. Village recruiters usually charge about £50. The main agencies demand between £400 and £800. The result is that workers can end up paying up to £1,000 or more in illegal commissions.

“I don’t care what happens to them once they get to Qatar,” Thapar says dismissively. “I just send them to the big agents in Jalandhar. I just feed the monster.”

The treatment of migrant World Cup workers in Qatar returns to the spotlight this week when the International Labour Organisation debates proposals at its annual meeting in Geneva to force the country to implement labour reforms or face a commission of inquiry. This is the highest sanction of the UN agency, which is made up of trade unions, employers’ groups and government representatives from 187 member states, including Qatar, India and other south Asia nations. Central to the demands for the inquiry is the recruitment process.

Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, whose members sit on the ILO, said: “It is highly exploitative. Laws are not being enforced and nobody is policing the system. Those involved are making a fortune at the expense of the workers. We demand an inquiry because we believe that Qatar is not serious about addressing how migrant workers are treated in recruitment and other key areas.”

Indian law states that only registered agents can recruit workers for jobs abroad and the maximum commission they can charge is £250 or the equivalent of 45 days’ salary (whichever is less).

They are also not allowed to use unlicensed sub-agents, such as Thapar. All workers have to be provided with contracts before departure and agents also have to ensure that employers adhere to the stipulated pay and conditions.

For those hoping to go to Qatar, there is little awareness of their rights or knowledge about the 2022 World Cup. They are motivated by a golden opportunity to improve their lives by significantly increasing their pay.

In the village of Langroya, 10 minutes away from Nawanshahr, Arvinder Kumar, 25, is one of scores of young men eager to go to Qatar. He now earns £50 a month as a plumber and has been offered work by a recruitment agency promising him more than £350 a month. In return, it is demanding £500 commission.

Kumar is well aware of the pitfalls. His cousin Jaswinder recently returned after two years in Qatar. A qualified electrician, his contract said he would be paid £400 a month but he received just over half that. He stayed because he had a loan to pay off and because his salary was still six times more than what he earned in India.

Langroya and other villages across Punjab, a state that provides some of the largest numbers of migrant workers to the Gulf region, are awash with similar stories of workers being exploited by agents at home and employers in Qatar and its neighbouring countries.

“We all know that we are going to be cheated. First in India and then when we go abroad, so it doesn’t matter what the law states because it won’t make any difference. I don’t know anything about the World Cup or football, I just know that there is work in Qatar,” said Kumar. “But we are promised one thing and then get something completely different. Ultimately, it’s just a question of fate and luck.”Paramjit Kaur Minhas has an equally resigned approach in her quest to contact the agent who sent her husband Saroop to Qatar last year and establish why he has not been paid for two months. He was charged £800 commission for a job as a lorry driver ferrying construction material which was supposed to earn him £425 a month, but this was reduced after he was involved in an accident and his employer docked part of his wages. In India he was earning £60 a month as a bus driver.

Minhas, 36, who lives in the village of Dahumunda with their children Gursharanpreet, 15, and Gurjot, five, said: “My husband had no choice but to go to Qatar because we have a family to raise and bills to pay and we couldn’t survive on what he was earning here.

“Each time I ring the agent to ask why Saroop hasn’t been paid, he just hangs up the phone or tells me he will look into the matter. My husband is too afraid to complain to his boss because he might lose his job. People are desperate in these parts, that’s why they go abroad for work but it’s disgraceful the way they are treated. “The world needs to know what’s going on but nobody is interested in helping us.”

In neighbouring Nepal, the situation is equally perilous. Amnesty International is to publish a report on the recruitment of workers going to Qatar later this year and estimates that there are up to 80,000 unregistered agents, charging commissions as exorbitant as those in India. Under local law, these are meant to be capped at £76 and all workers are supposed to be issued with a free ticket and visa.

Angela Sherwood, Amnesty’s migrants rights researcher, who spent several months travelling around Nepal to compile the report, said: “There are rules in place to regulate labour recruitment but governments are not putting any resources into implementing them. There is a need for better monitoring and we want the authorities in south Asia and Qatar to take action to reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers.”

Campaigners claim that one of the main reasons why south Asian governments are reluctant to enforce existing laws or complain about how their citizens are treated in Qatar is because they are desperate for them to find work due to high unemployment. Migrant workers also play a crucial role in the economy. According to World Bank figures, last year Indians sent home almost £55bn, the bulk from the Gulf region, while foreign remittances account for almost 30% of Nepal’s gross domestic product.

The recruitment process is only one of a number of criticisms levelled against Qatar over the World Cup. Others include workers being underpaid, poor living and working conditions and the kafala sponsorship system, which prevents them from changing jobs or leaving the country without the employer’s permission.

The ITUC claimed in December 2015 that as many as 7,000 migrant workers will die on World Cup-related projects by the time the tournament kicks off, which was denied by the Qatari government. A report by Amnesty International last March, which focused on migrant workers building the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, which is expected to host World Cup matches all the way up to the semi-finals, found they were living in squalid accommodation, with the majority not being paid for several months and employers confiscating their passports and not issuing them with exit permits to return home.

In response to mounting pressure, Qatar announced a number of reforms last December heralding that it had ended the kafala system. The government said at the time that it was committed “to the development of a labour system that is fair to employers and employees alike. These legislative changes, combined with ongoing enforcement and a commitment to systemic reform, not just in Qatar but also in countries of origin, will ensure workers’ rights are respected across the entire labour pathway.”

Critics protest that the reforms have been little more than window dressing and that considerable loopholes remain, meaning the kafala system and other repressive labour laws exist under different names. Trade unions remain banned, while employers are still able to stop workers from changing jobs for up to five years. Passport confiscation, officially outlawed, is also permissible under certain circumstances.

Trade unionists also claim that no action has been taken to address the recruitment process, which they want to be managed by credible international agencies operating to the highest corporate standards. As the wealthy, influential player in the labour chain, they insist that Qatar is best placed to enforce change.

Kasi Ram (not his real name), a trade union organiser working secretly in Qatar, said: “It is Qatar that needs the workers and is in the best position to ensure that they are treated properly and fairly because, compared to India and Nepal, it is far richer and more powerful. But these are reforms in name only, the reality is that nothing has changed on the ground. The workers are exploited every step of the way, from the moment they step into a recruiting agent’s office right up to living and working in Qatar.” The Indian government maintains that it is implementing a number of measures to clamp down on rogue labour recruiters, such as instructing state-level police to take action and doubling agent registration fees to £60,000. However, its own figures show that only 24 prosecutions took place over the past three years, despite almost 700 complaints.

Qatar, meanwhile, has been vociferously lobbying ILO members in the run-up to this week’s debate to persuade them to drop demands for an inquiry, arguing that its reforms will take time to “bed in”. It also continues to push ahead with its nine new state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled stadiums, an entire city outside of Doha, shopping malls, transport links, several roads, a new central sewage system and 20 skyscrapers.

With an estimated final cost of £160bn, the 2022 World Cup is expected to be the most expensive in the tournament’s history, but those being recruited to transform Qatar’s football dream into reality are already paying a high price.

QATAR IN NUMBERS

1.8 million. Total number of migrant workers estimated to be involved in World Cup projects, directly or indirectly.

2.1 million. Total number of migrant workers in Qatar.

2.67 million. Overall population of Qatar, an increase of 64% since 2010 when the country was awarded the 2022 World Cup, mainly due to an influx of migrant workers.

60% of Qatar’s population live in labour camps, the overwhelming majority single men from south Asia.

9 new World Cup stadiums being constructed and three existing stadiums being renovated in addition to other major developments.

£400 million per week being spent by the Qataris on World Cup infrastructure projects.

1,800 The number of migrant workers who died in the three years to 2014, according to a report commissioned by the Qatari government.

7,000 The number of migrant workers who will die on World Cup-related projects by the time the 2022 tournament gets under way, according to the International Trade Union Confederation.

£101,406 Qatar’s average per capita income, according to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, making it the richest country in the world.

£475 The average monthly salary for Indian construction workers doing 60 hours a week, according to the International Labour Organisation.

£262 The average monthly salary for a Nepalese working about 70 hours a week.